Month: October 2016

Hello. my landlord and I came to an agreement, after months of me complaining about random things, that it is best that I leave. I am the one who initiated it, and he agreed to let me out my lease early. I am VERY skeptical. When I took the apartment, there was animal excrement and stuff in the closets, which I told him about right away. Also, as I was cleaning the floor boards, I cut my hand on a rusty nail that was protruding from in between the boards. I also documented that and told him it was unacceptable. I even threatened to sue (i never planned on it, but I was pissed). A month later is when I told him I want out. He was super easy going about it, when the management company is NOTORIOUS for being absolute dickwads. In the release agreement, he stated “tenant releases landlord from all damages, personal or property, while in the unit”.Am I being taken for a fool?I also posted this in /r/legaladvice

Yet another interesting headline in the world of health and well-being. Early 20th Century Earthquakes May Have Been Caused By Calif. Oil Boom
A new study suggests a handful of earthquakes in the 1920s and 1930s were associated with increasingly deep and frequent drilling for oil near Los Angeles. Since then, drilling practices have changed.

Back in April I bought a house that was a complete gut rehab. Had a purchase price of $110,000 agreed upon. First appraisal comes back at $105,000, so I am forced to reduce the price to close. Then I find out a second appraisal is done for rehab homes that are purchased and sold within 120 days, and the second appraisal came back at $116,000. Am I stuck with the $105,000 or can we go back to the original purchase price?

We sit on ~.5 acre and have a neighbor on the left side. There’s a dried up creek bed behind us and an empty lot on the right side of us.So, we only have 1 adjacent neighbor.The lot just came up for sale (asking 50k, we’d offer 40k and maybe split the difference) and we’re thinking about buying for two reasons1) to keep some privacy2) investment: outside of our subdivision, all the new lots are all ~.1 acre(some smaller!!) so these larger lots should be more desirable in the future.Our home is valued ~285k, we currently owe ~86k.We refi’d back in 2011 at 15yrs / 4.25%.Credit score ~760What’s the best financing route to take if we wanted to buy this lot?Thanks a bunch, TC.

Good morning, I have had my real estate license for a little over three years now. Haven’t ever really done a whole lot with it, mostly because I’ve found that I’m more of a design and planning person as opposed to advertising and marketing. My background has been in civil design and surveying and land planning. Well, I recently was hired as a City Planner. The Director of my department hired me knowing I had a license. My plan was to do no real estate at all within the city limits. I figured that would preclude any semblance of conflict of interest or anything. However! I was recently asked to pull up information on a parcel that is listed by another agent and to determine if price was fair, and if not, what would be fair, as the city may have an interest in buying. There will be a meeting of the powers that be at the City this evening about said parcel. I am to be there as the realtor for the city. I’m nervous about conflict but at this point, as I have in no way led this discussion, I don’t yet find conflict. Thoughts and comments from anyone?? Also, I am really nervous about the being paid part. Personally I would really love the commission from this. But I also want to tread lightly. I need some experienced input here please!!

When purchasing a Retail building (NOT the LLC owning the building right now) in South Beach – can the Leases come “attached” to the building, or will I have to sign Leases with each tenant again once the building is owned by my own LLC?Thanks.edit: wording

House prices in my area are north of 900k in areas that I would live in. Is it even worth saving for a larger down payment? Should I just split what a single down payment would cost in NYC to buy multiple multi-family homes in cheaper areas out-of-state?

Hi all, bit of an unusual question but I’m hoping you can give me some insight or advice.About 3 years ago I bought my first house. All is well, no questions there. Periodically since then, maybe every 6 months or so, I have what I’ve been calling “crazy phone call day”.Calls start at 8am. I get between 10-15 over the morning. All different numbers but local area codes. I don’t answer them all, but the callers are all asking about a house they believe I (or rather a person at this phone number) has listed for sale.Most of the people are freaking vultures. Once I explain I’m not the person they’re looking for they try to sell me a house! One time I got a nice person to explain to me how he got my phone number. And what I could piece together is that this phone number came up in conjunction with a relisted home. The phone number is associated not directly in the MLS database but some kind of third party tool that connects phone records with names.At first I was concerned about identity theft or some kind of scam, but these people don’t have my name or address, just the phone number. I’ve checked my credit report, have an identity protection service, and I bought title insurance when purchasing my home. All are clear.If it happened once, I’d believe it was just a transposed number or typo. But it happens again and again and I believe they’re asking about a different house each time, but I haven’t been keeping notes.Any advice, explanation or help? It was funny the first two times, but now it’s just an annoyance. Thank you.

Hi,I am considering a career change and real estate intrigues me. I’ve worked in sales before and I love the competitive nature of the business, but I have no idea where to start.For the last 14 years I have run/owned my family’s auto collision business. I am in the process of selling it now and will need to either find a job in the industry somewhere else, which I don’t care to do, or move into something else.I am a salesman at heart. I think real estate and me can hit it off.How do I get started? Do I walk into a Douglas Elliman office and ask for a job or do I need to get licensed first?Do I need to take classes? Is there essential reading material?Any information on how to get a career in real estate started would be appreciated.Thanks.